1

Environmental Sustainability

and TourismAn uneasy relationship

Visit Sustainability-Leaders.com for more on sustainable business, travel and tourism!

2

• Definition• Environmental sustainability• Sustainable Tourism• Resource Paradox• Environmentally Sustainable Tourism• Sustainable Tourism Criteria • Green Globe Programme• Conclusions

Contents

3

...Environmental Sustainability“Long-term maintenance of ecosystem components and functions

for future generations” (Entrix Consulting)

...Tourism“The temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their stay in those destinations, and the facilities created to

cater to their needs” (Mathieson and Wall, 1982)

How to define...

4

• Effectively managing our natural resources so they are available for the use of future generations.

• UN Millenium Goal

• Discrepancy between public speaking and private deciding (EU)

• Top-down or bottom-up?

Environmental Sustainablity

5

What operators can do:• Energy, waste, and water efficient business practices• Community involvement in decision making• Identifying and managing the environmental effects associated with

their activities• Identifying opportunities to market a business as sustainable• Identifying key partnerships

Visitors:• Making choices and taking actions to minimise

the environmental impacts associated with their travels

Sustainable Tourism?

(New Zealand Tourism)

6

• Resource paradox at intersection of tourism and environment

• Natural environment draws tourists and is part of tourist experience

• At same time nature is exploited to satisfy visitors‘ consumptive desires

• Consumption and production exist simultaneously

• Environmental consequences of tourist activity immediately evident

Resource Paradox

Miller (2003)

7

Environmentally Sustainable Tourism Developments...

• ...are zero carbon and ready for a ‘low-carbon economy’ where people see carbon as a valuable currency that is in short supply.

• ...protect and enhance local biodiversity.

• ...ensure that materials are responsibly sourced – where possible knowing their provenance from the bottom of the supply chain.

• ...protect water resources and water quality – abstracting less water from fresh supplies than is replaced naturally, and do not impact on the ability of local communities to meet their water needs.

• ...are zero waste – they do not send any waste to landfill.

(Forum for the Future, 2008)

8

• Environment

– Purchasing policy– Consumable goods– Energy consumption– Water consumption– Greenhouse gas– Wastewater– Waste management plan

– Harmful substances– Other pollutants– Wildlife species– Wildlife in captivity– Landscaping– Biodiversity conservation– Interactions with wildlife

Sustainable Tourism Criteria

9

Green Globe Programme

10

• Different definitions and worldviews

• Long-term balance between appropriate tourism use and overuse remains fundamental issue

• Tourism exploits and requires protection of environment at the same time = resource paradox

• Sustainability paradigm

• Consumer demand - make the right choice

• Lack of collective leadership towards sustainability

• First promising initiatives are on the way!

Conclusion

11

“Tourism is like any other industry, in that it can truly make a positive contribution to the environment and to communities but

it can also be a negative element with respect to them“

(Jarkko Saalinen, 2006)

12

Want More?

Visit us on

http://Sustainability-Leaders.com

Twitter: @SustLeaders

Facebook: fb.com/SustainabilityLeaders

See you there!

13

• Entrix Consulting (www.entrix.com/resources/glossary.aspx). [Accessed 15 February 09].• EC3 Global (www.ec3global.com). [Accessed 15 February 09].• Hunter, C. (1997) Sustainable Tourism as an Adaptive Paradigm. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp.

850-867.• Mathieson, A. and Wall, G. (1982). Tourism. Economics, Physical and Social Impacts. Prentice Hall.• McCool, S., Morsey, R., Nickerson, N. (2001). What should tourism sustain? The disconnect with industry

perceptions of useful indicators. Journal of Travel Research. Vol. 40, pp. 124–131.• Miller, G. (2003). Consumerism in sustainable tourism: a survey of UK consumers. Journal of Sustainable

Tourism. Vol. 11, pp. 17–39.• Mowforth, M. and Munt, I. (1996) Tourism and Sustainability - New Tourism in the Third World. London:

Routledge• Nelson New Zealand (www.nelsonnz.com/sustainable.tourism/). [Accessed 14 February 09].• Paradise Found (2008) Forum for the Future www.forumforthefuture.org.• Ruzza, C. (2000) Environmental Sustainability and Tourism in European Policy-Making. Innovation, Vol. 13, No.

3.• Saalinen, J. (2006). Traditions of sustainability in tourism studies. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 33, No. 4,

pp.1121-1140.• Sharpley, R. (2000) Tourism and Sustainable Development: Explorin the Theoretical Divide. Journal of

Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 8.• Sustainable Tourism Criteria (www.sustainabletourismcriteria.org) [Accessed 14 February 09].• Tourism Authority NZ (www.tourism.net.nz/community/environmental_sustainability). [Accessed 14 February 09].• Williams, P.W. and Ponsford, I.F. (2009) Futures. Doi:10.1016/j.futures.2008.11.019.• Worldbank (web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTOED/EXTENVIRONMENT) [Accessed 15 February 09].

References